New job and already annoyed...

[mizunderstood]

So I started a new job last week at a call center. BLAH!
When I had my interview I was told it was mon-friday 9-5 and the occasional sat 11-7.
I explained to the woman that is exactly what I needed since I have kids and hubby works late at nite too. I was offered the job, gladly accepted it and started work. Now mind you I really like the job, and the people.
PROBLEM:::
Today was end of week 2.
First thing this morning they pull us out of work to have a "coaching session" They tell us that our shifts are now going to change. Half of us will work 9-5 the other half is going to work 5-1am! No warning, no discussion, nothing. Then they hand out the new schedules. We were not impressed. Now, when we all filled out the applications we all stated what our hrs of availablity were. Some said 7pm, no later, some said 10pm no later. (since the call center closes at 10pm) Now out of the blue they change the contract. Is this fair? Is there anything we can do to fight this???
The worst part is that it is not a permanent schedule.... One week we will work 9-5 the next we will work 5-1... Does anyone see a problem with this?? Please help. I really do like this job and it is definatly needed, but working 5-1am is not possible in some of our situations, and it is not what we agreed to... Thank you!

[friskytigress]

i hear you there i am at a call center and was on 9-4 and got switched to 1 to 9 i never see my kids any more:( and they dont care or listen to ya at all..i wonder if you are working at the same place as me?:confused:

[lizard_lover]

if you put on your sheet of availability in the beginning that you cannot work past a certain time, I do not believe they can make you.
And as far as changing the shifts, as long as they give you 24 hours notice, yes they can. I work at a call center too, and my campaign just went from monday-friday 9am-11pm no weekends to 24/7, so you can imagine how we felt as well. Unfortunately for you it is a call center, and they will do what they want, regardless of what you say.

[friskytigress]

TRUE, They do what they want. I said i could work either nites or mornings but no middle of the day shifts and i got stuck on all of them because the workers just are not there:(

[kaj27]

Talk to your union rep.



j/k

[t-bone]

i think they can pretty much schedule anytime they want to.
unless you are in a union and working under a contract, this kind of thing falls under department of labour.
the labour laws in this province are very slanted towards the employer, probably irving's lawyers wrote them up. employers in this province get away with most anything.
suck it up or hit the bricks.

[mizunderstood]

I guess the thing that makes me mad is that it was agreed that this was the shifts that the client had available, I told them explicitly that I can only work certain hrs, they hired me knowing my availablity, now they change it on us? What are our rights??

[The_Dave]

Talk to your union rep.



j/k

Union rep, Hehehehe too funny.

Well folks it is called business requirements. The business requires your services at these times to meet the customers needs. If you do not like it, speak directly to the supervisor and see if arrangements can be made for you, but if they cannot you have two choices. You can choose to stay and work whatever shift they give you or you can choose to quit and go to the unemployment office and tell them they broke whatever type of agreement you believe that you and the company had, therefore you should not be penalized when you file for your EI, if you qualify. Either way, good luck.

[sanstu]

I guess the thing that makes me mad is that it was agreed that this was the shifts that the client had available, I told them explicitly that I can only work certain hrs, they hired me knowing my availablity, now they change it on us? What are our rights??

There are call centers that have hrs. geared to a working mom.(Irving is the one that comes to mind) Get your resume out. The one benefit to staying where you're at for now is you are more likely to find other employment while you are working. BTW. I don't think as a new employee, that you have many rights. Good luck!!

[JustWatching]

Sounds a lot like a situation a supervisor I used to work with found herself in....she stated she could only work a day shift (I believe 8-4 maybe 5)....they hired her knowing this....kept her in that schedule for quite some time....then a new boss came and basically tried to break the agreement....not sure exactly what happened there but for the better part of 3yrs she had the shift she required....I believe at the end the kids were getting older so she was more flexible....(Thinking maybe it was foster kids and she had to be home at certain times??? Don't know if that makes sense)

Anyway if you marked this on your application I'd call the labour board or EI and find out if you have a leg to stand on....I believe she did but may not be the same here...

[trinity]

I do see both sides of the issue, the employer needs to cover the shift and you need to take care of your family. The problem is that unless you are in a union, or have a signed contract, your job is what, and when, your employer says it is. The main issue is that they misled you. Why they would hire people who clearly indicated they needed a day shift, knowing that the hours might change, is beyond me and seems bad business sense, half your class or more may now quit and they have wasted thousands of dollars in training money, not to mention time to get ready for the client's contract. I would personally suck it up for one week of 5-1 and use those daytimes free to look for another job. Have you considered Tim Hortons? You can up your hourly pay 2 or 3$ with tips.

[mizunderstood]

Thanks trinity. I do agree with you. I do feel mislead too. However I cannot "suck it up for one week" and work the 5-1 because my hubby works nights, and I only have daycare. I don't have anyone to watch my kids while I was at work. And as far as Tim Hortons, no I would not work there. I have worked there before and it is more headache than it's worth. They definatly don't give the shifts that fit my family.Besides the pay woould not cover my daycare expenses. Blah. I feel like it's a no win war when you have kids.

[JustWatching]

Just curious how you made out?....Did you leave the job or were they able to stick with the agreed on times?

[mike_d]

There are other call centers out there that will give you more flexability with life issues...I know Xerox is great in that department....I had my supervisor and manager come talk to me to help when I said I may need to change to a different shift when my wife goes back to work and we want to avoid a babysitter for our 8 month old. They just said let us know when and we will fit you into a shift that fits your needs. :)

[mizunderstood]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I am going to look into other places, and get it in writing from now on.. lol..

[ksbeckaa]

xerox wouldnt do a damn thing for me so I had to quit

[FutureChief88]

No but xerox tells you before hand :)

[JustWatching]

No but xerox tells you before hand :)

Tells you what?

[FutureChief88]

What your shift is..
they dont blind side you..
If you work 1st shift.. Its rotated every month anywhere from 8-7 i believe.. Not sure..

Second shift i believe is from 2-10 and 3rd shift is over night..

then you have weekends.. I believe the only shift that changes is 1st shift..but they tell you what the deal is before you are hired..

and just an FYI.. You are hired through an agency.. So any hourly changes would have to be made by them..

I have been here for 2 years.. and my shift has been altered to adjust work/life balance.. I have had no problems.. and again.. Not much i could have said if they didnt change it.. cause i knew what the shift was when i hired..

[JustWatching]

What your shift is..
they dont blind side you..
If you work 1st shift.. Its rotated every month anywhere from 8-7 i believe.. Not sure..

Second shift i believe is from 2-10 and 3rd shift is over night..

then you have weekends.. I believe the only shift that changes is 1st shift..but they tell you what the deal is before you are hired..

and just an FYI.. You are hired through an agency.. So any hourly changes would have to be made by them..

I have been here for 2 years.. and my shift has been altered to adjust work/life balance.. I have had no problems.. and again.. Not much i could have said if they didnt change it.. cause i knew what the shift was when i hired..

Well that is good - So after 2yrs are you not a Xerox employee yet?

[FutureChief88]

I was a Xerox employee after 3 months.. :)

[Cartersmom]

Even if you did have a union rep, someone has to work mid shifts. No one wants to. Evry single person there could put they are only available days..kwim? LOL
Could dh work days so you can do nights? I mean when you're new its not going to be possible to usually work 8-4 or similar at a call ctr because its the most desired shift
If you absolutely need a day shift I recommend a different kind of job, maybe a receptionist, medical secretary, some kind of desk clerk at a place which is only open days?
I hear you on juggling things with the kids though..I am lucky in a way bc dh works fixed days , w/e off. So I work nights and weekends so we don;t have to have our ds in child care. Once he hits school age I will probably only work PT or I'll never see him..

[mizunderstood]

I understand that some people would take advantage of the shifts, but the thing that ticked me off is that I SPECIFICALLY stated I would not work for them unless they gave me DAYSHIFTS and they PROMISED ME dayshifts. M-F 9-5 and occasional sats 11-7. Somehow they thought that I would not mind having them break their promise to me. Unfortunatly my husband cannot change his shifts. He works in a restaurnat and his shifts are odd. usually 1130-9pm and I don't have anyone that can watch my kids at night. THat is why I was VERY specific as to what shifts I needed. I told them flat out that if they cannot guarentee me the shifts that i needed then don't bother going any further with the interview. She said no, not a proble, your shifts will be 9-5 occasionally 11-7. That's what we agreed, then once they got me in and trained (and I really did like the job and the people) they changed it. So sorry but you didn't hold up your end of our agreement, you wouldn't fix it, so I quit. I just got ticked off since it wasted 3 weeks of my time and cost me money to work there for nothing.

[The_Dave]

I understand that some people would take advantage of the shifts, but the thing that ticked me off is that I SPECIFICALLY stated I would not work for them unless they gave me DAYSHIFTS and they PROMISED ME dayshifts. M-F 9-5 and occasional sats 11-7. Somehow they thought that I would not mind having them break their promise to me. Unfortunatly my husband cannot change his shifts. He works in a restaurnat and his shifts are odd. usually 1130-9pm and I don't have anyone that can watch my kids at night. THat is why I was VERY specific as to what shifts I needed. I told them flat out that if they cannot guarentee me the shifts that i needed then don't bother going any further with the interview. She said no, not a proble, your shifts will be 9-5 occasionally 11-7. That's what we agreed, then once they got me in and trained (and I really did like the job and the people) they changed it. So sorry but you didn't hold up your end of our agreement, you wouldn't fix it, so I quit. I just got ticked off since it wasted 3 weeks of my time and cost me money to work there for nothing.


Just wondering, when you went to the Human Resources person and tried to calmly work things out and explain to them what you say they promised you for your shifts, what did they say to you? Before you quit of course.

[trinity]

I just got ticked off since it wasted 3 weeks of my time and cost me money to work there for nothing.

They didn't pay you for training?

[JustWatching]

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here....but it sounds to me like this is how they're working things....

Interview people and if asked promise them a certain shift.....then put them through 2 weeks ...when training time is over the schedule comes out....probably some people will get the shifts they wanted/needed so they're happy.

I bet the company is hedging it's bet that the others will stay even w/o the shift they asked for (at least it's a job)....especially if the training is unpaid....they aren't really out anything....

They hire X amount of people extra to account for those people who really will quit if they don't the shifts they asked for. (Well attrition happens in classes anyway - they usually overhire - so they're prepared for say 2 out of 10 to quit)

Kind of a dirty way to deal with people and doesn't give them a good rep - unfortunatley a lot of CC don't really care....as employees are a dime a dozen (in their eyes)

[mizunderstood]

They didn't pay you for training?

Sorry I should have been more clear,
yes they did pay me for my training but they pay such a low rate while in training that it didn't even cover the cost of my daycare expenses.

[The_Dave]

Sorry I should have been more clear,
yes they did pay me for my training but they pay such a low rate while in training that it didn't even cover the cost of my daycare expenses.

So they didn't pay you the same wage for training as they pay after training? It was actually less for training? If that is the case then right away you would think something is not right. They should have paid you the same wage in training as you would make after training.

Just in case you missed this, I will ask again.

Just wondering, when you went to the Human Resources person and tried to calmly work things out and explain to them what you say they promised you for your shifts, what did they say to you? Before you quit of course.

[mizunderstood]

They pay 3 different rates
7.50 in class training, 9.00 while in "intergration" then 10.00 once you get on the floor on your own.
Apparently a lot of companies are doing this kind of pay structure lately. (I never heard of it myself but have had people tell me the same thing about other call centers.)
I did talk to HR about the issue but they told me "You should never have been told that, our hrs are what the client decides" When I asked to be put on the shift I was promised and requested from the get go, I was told it would be MY responsibility to find someone to trade shifts with me on the weeks that I had 5-1am shifts. I asked everyone in my class no one wants to work until 1am, especially where there is no bus service past 7 pm. Nothing could be done to fix the problem and the HR woman was leaving the end of the week. (coincedence???) I was basically told to suck it up and I should have expected it, this IS a call center.

[mizunderstood]

But I guess it doesn't really matter now anyways, I quit! lol. I don't htink I would want to work for a company that was sooo sneaky and shady.
Besides I have the best job in the world right now.
I get to be a stay at home mom for a while! lol
IT just ticked me off since it was a good job and the people were nice enough, the company itself was just a mess. :)